Frontal function and executive processing in older adults: process and region specific age-related longitudinal
Joshua O Goh1, Lori L Beason-Held, Yang An
1Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, Intramural Research Program, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD 21224, USA. joshua.goh@nih.gov
Neuroimage
|December 26, 2012
Summary
Aging brains show varied frontal activity. Higher blood flow in some frontal areas linked to better executive function at first, but increases over time correlated with cognitive decline in older adults.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Aging
- Brain Imaging
Background:
- Longitudinal aging brain studies reveal declines in frontal activity, contrasting with cross-sectional findings of over-recruitment.
- Age-related frontal activity changes may be process- and region-specific, not uniform across the frontal cortex.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and executive functions in cognitively normal older adults.
- To clarify whether age-related frontal brain-behavior relationships are generalized or specific to distinct frontal regions and cognitive processes.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA).
- Examined cross-sectional associations at baseline and longitudinal changes in rCBF.
- Assessed relationships with various executive abilities, including abstraction, chunking, inhibition, discrimination, switching, and manipulation.
Main Results:
- Baseline: Greater middle frontal rCBF correlated with better abstraction and chunking.
- Baseline: Increased rCBF in the insula and a specific middle frontal region linked to poorer inhibition and discrimination.
- Longitudinal: Increases in frontal rCBF over time were associated with declines in multiple executive functions.
Conclusions:
- Age-related changes in frontal brain-behavior associations are process- and region-specific.
- Sustained high frontal engagement over time in older adults may indicate declining cognitive function, not preserved ability.
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